Man Arrested In Las Cruces For Threatening Sears Employees With A Hatchet

Michael E. Scott, 22, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Scott was transported to the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000.

At around 4 p.m. Monday, June 27, Las Cruces Police were called to the Sears store in the Mesilla Valley Mall where two employees had been threatened by a man brandishing a hatchet.

Officers learned that a man, later identified as Scott, entered the store and was acting suspiciously and peering through doors that led to the stockroom. At some point Scott grabbed a hatchet from the hardware department and then confronted the two store employees in a threatening manner.

The employees eventually convinced Scott to leave the store but he quickly returned and started asking customers if he could borrow a cell phone. Store employees called police who detained Scott just outside the store.